St. Paul daily globe., 1887-03-23
THE VALUE OF CANALS.
Gen. Andrews Shows How Beneficial In
land Water Transportation Can
be Made.
With Canal From Duluth to st. Paul
Coal Would be So a Ton
Cheaper.
Plenty OF Evidence That the Railroads
Cannot Compete With the
Waterways.
Some OF the Canal Schemes Which are
Claiming the Attention of w est
ern People.

iHe ldltSI onucIdi dctlOn III Regard W d
canal from the upper Mississippi to the
great lakes Is that OF the board of United
States engineers. The report of that
board dated Dec. 80, 1886, and printed in
Executive DOcumentN umber 65, FOrty-ninth
congress, second session, states as follows:
AS to the practical Importance of through
route by way of the Fox and Wisconsin
rivers, great changes have occurred during
the past tweuty-four years. Railroads have
multiplied and by sharp competition between
themselves may maintain rates at so low
figures that 1t is very doubtful if an ordinary
canal can compete with them so as ato mate
rally reduce rates over a rote so unfavorable
as that from Green Bay to the Mississippi.
AT any rate action should be delayed
until the limit OF practical improvement in
the low water navigation of the MISSISSIPPI
from st. Paul downward has been deter
mined. That limit will fix the depth de-
mauded in a canal travering the valley Of the
Wisconsin.
ITS IMPORTANCE.
In view of this conclusion of the en-
gineer officers it becomes of the greatest
Importance that ''the limit of practical i'm
provement in the low water navigation of
the Mississippi from st. Paul downward"
be ascertained as soon as possible. 1t is
the opinion of these officers that canal
from Green Bay to the Mississippi via the
Fox and Wisconsin rivers should not be any
deeper than the stage at which the MlSsis-
| sippi can be maintained at low water from
| st. Paul downward. 1t is Iather to be re-
gretted that they have not thlown some
| light on this Immediate and important ques-
ton of what the attainable maximum depth
! of the Mississippi will be. They say
enough, however. to awaken the profound
attention OF all the people of the Northwest
who teel the vital Importance of cheap
transportation; and who are thus notified
that the first and great thing for them to do
is to concentrate their energies in securing
| as deep a nayigable channel in the MSSiS-
| Sippi as possible and as soon as possible,
seeing that such limit will determine the
depth of canal to Green Bay. Every
community in the upper Mississippi valley
should endeavor to influence public opinion
in favor of this work. The need of canal
| to unite Green Bay with the Mississippi
river is no longer an open question. The
prairie farmers of Iowa, Minnesota and
Dakota, who are paying upward of S12 a
ton for coal, or who in lieu of coal have to
burn hay for fuel, are in actual distress for
| lack of
CHEAP WATER TRANSPORTATION.
The residents of railroad centerS like st.
Paul and Minneapolis now have to pay 81
if the proposed canal were in use. AT
present coal is brought from Buffalo to
Chicago by rail for SITS per ton and from
Chicago to st. Paul for SO. making So. rs
per ton for transportation through by rail-
road from Buffalo co St. Paul By water
the rate is: From Buffalo to Duluth, 80
cents per ton; dock charges at Duluth, 60
cents per ton, aud from Duluth to ST. Paul by
rail S1.75 per ton; in all 50. S5 per ton.
With thorough water route it could be
brought from Buffalo to st. Paul at about
rs cents per ton. BY the time canal could
be finished and corresponding improve
ment made in the navigation of the upper
Mississippi, the consumption of coal will
have so increased that the people to be
benefited by the canal would save 3,000,-
600 per year in the single item of coal.
=. Among the few American civil engineers
whose opinion is entitled to conclusive
weight was the late Edwin F. Johnson, OF
Connecticut. He was the builder Of the
first stretch of the Northwestern railroad
out of Chicago and the forerunner of the
Northern Pacific. No American was more
farseeing than he with reference to the
needs OF our country in great routes OF
cheap transportion. In his very able paper,
entitled 1.-The Navigation of the Lakes
and Navigable Communication There
from to the Seaboard and to the
Mississippi river. published at Hartford in
1866. he strongly advocates the construction
Of both the Hennepin and the Fox and Wis
consin canals. His words are: ''These
canals are destined to perform most I'M
pOrtant part in relation to the trade be-
tween
THE FAST AND THE WEST,
and also in relation to the trade between
the lower Mississippi and the lakes" He
declares that their construction is indis
pensabe" that they have become "a neces
sity." The people of the Northwest neet
to be educated up to the Importance anC
value OF canals. How few there are wht
know the benefits Ohio has derived from the
Miami canal, extending from Cincinnati tt
Toledo, and which, with feeders, is %;
miles long. 1t was completed in 1S45, at {
cost of $o. 062 ,6S0. so, and has more than
paid for itself. From recent communication
of Col. Bachtell, chief engineer OF the boart
of public works of Ohio, | learn tina
among the benefits derived from thai
system of canals are that they
regulate the freight charges of railroad
companies, thereby affording saving O
many million dollars a year to producers il
the adjacent region; the water power fur
nished by the locks has developed manu-
featuring industry employing a capital o
over $50, 600, 900. the water in nearly al
cases returning to the canal below tht
locks. There are i'll Ohio eighty-eigh
counties, yet the tWenty-seven counte:
crossed by the canal comprise more thar
half the entire wealth OF the state. Witt
regard to the Erie canal, there ought not tt
be a school child in our country who i.
ignorant of its great and widespread bene
fits. Though built over half a century age
by single state, it is generally pointed tt
as one of the glOries of the whole country
As to the proposed canal from Green Ba,
to the Mississippi via the Fox and Wiscon
sin rivers. it has for long years been re
garded by competent engineers as an ex
ceptionably favorable route. Gen. G. K
Warren, in his report of Nov. 26, 1877
Executive Document No. 2S, first Ses
sion Forty-fourth congress), says that it
feasibility.
AT MODERATE EXPENSE,
has been established, that it is ''the Onl
resource" and urged "a thorough survey
In that report he says: 1.-The examination
| of the Wisconsin and Fox river route il
1886 had shown that we were very well in
formed in every respect concerning the por
tion along the Lower and Upper Fox river
| and the canal at Portage; but that we ha
TO good survey of the part along the Wis
consin river. 1t was designed, therefore
to make as thorough survey as possbl
from the Portage canal to the Mississippi
during the season of 1867" But in regar
to the survery of 1867 he states, on page 6
of his report:
1t was impracticable to secure information
/ complete enough to give more than an ar
{ proximate idea of proper location for u canal
! and to furnish guide for final survey fo
, location. Therefore (he continue
,, on page 1867 in 1868 directed examination t
be continued so as to obtain more defiut
idaa of tho ,narvins of the flood DIain of th